Posts by Yong Joo Park:
Paul’s Heartbroken Love for Israel
Romans 9:1–5 (NLT)
1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Message
Paul declares that what he is about to say is utterly truthful and confirmed by his conscience and the Holy Spirit (1). See verse 2–3.
2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.
Paul’s sorrow and grief for his people, his Jewish brothers and sisters, are due to their unbelief and rejection of Christ. They are supposedly physically more qualified for salvation as descendants of Abraham (4-5). He even would give up his salvation if that could save his people (3). This shows how much he loves them.
Physically and historically, they are the people of Israel who were chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed His glory to them. God made covenants with them and gave them His law. God gave them the privilege of worshiping Him and receiving His wonderful promises. (4)
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors. Christ Himself was an Israelite as far as His human nature is concerned. He is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. (5)
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love: Overwhelming Victory Through Christ
Romans 8:35–39 (NLT) 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered […]
If God Is for Us: The Unshakeable Security of God’s People in Christ
Romans 8:31–34 NLT 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen […]
The Spirit’s Groanings and God’s Unbreakable Chain of Salvation
Romans 8:26–30 NLT 26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit […]
Groaning Now, Glory Later: The Hope That Sustains God’s Children
Romans 8:18–25 NLT 18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation […]
God’s Children Glorified via Suffering
Romans 8:15–17 NLT 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we […]
No Obligation to the Flesh: Living as Children of God
Romans 8:10–14 NLT 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he […]
No Condemnation, Life Through the Spirit
Romans 8:1-9 (NLT) 1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of […]
Released from the Law, Still Battling the Flesh
Romans 7:14-25 NLT 14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I […]
God’s Law Reveals Our Sin
How Sin Uses God’s Good Commandments for Evil Romans 7:7-13 NLT God’s Law Reveals Our Sin 7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had […]
